This disclosure relates generally to gaming devices and more particularly to incentives offered by a proprietor of a gaming establishment to induce enrolment in a player-tracking system and play of the gaming devices.
Use of a web browser to permit off-site enrollment of players in a player-tracking system via a web browser is known in the prior art. Manual promotions in which players pay, e.g., $20 cash for $40 credit are also known.
In these prior art promotions an attendant oversees a desk associated with a bank of gaming machines dedicated to the promotion. The attendant receives cash from the player, and, using controls at the desk, applies those credits to a specified machine, which the player must play until the session ends—typically either as a result of playing all the credits or hitting a large jackpot. This is so because the $40 credit cannot be cashed out, and can be used only to play the specified gaming machine. In addition, only the top 3 awards can be cashed out; all smaller awards are applied to the gaming machine as non-cashable credits that can only be wagered.